The wave of saffron seems to be sweeping the state of Maharashtra as per early trends. Mahayuti alliance led by Bharatiya Janata Party in alliance with Shiv Sena and NCP is leading on 219 seats out of 288 against the Mahavikas Agadi led by Congress in hands with Shiv Sena (UBT) of Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar NCP (SP) which seems to be getting a hold of only 51 seats in Maharashtra.
The early trends in the Maharashtra Assembly are giving Mahayuti a clear majority. Out of 218 leading seats of the Mahayuti alliance, Bharatiya Janata Party is leading on 125 seats, Shiv Sena with 55, and NCP is leading on 39 seats. On the other side of the table, Congress is ahead on 19 seats with NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) leading on 12 and 20 respectively.
The Ladli Behan Yojna which worked great for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh giving the party a clean sweep in the General Elections of 2024, and the Hindutva politics which Mahayuti led their campaign has successfully made its mark with Mahayuti Alliance dominating the assembly elections. By contrast, the Mahavikas Agadi’s minority appeasement politics has failed to convert seats which include the promise of Muslim reservation and the brazenly communal calls by radical and orthodox Maulanas to cast en-mass votes to the MVA bloc.
Mahayuti supporters have started their celebrations of the big election victory which they are looking forward to achieving in a matter of a few hours. The Maharashtra Assembly elections were the tussle between Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray to get an idea of whom the people of Maharashtra trusted after the division of the Shiv Sena into Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena (UBT) of Uddhav Thackeray. Out of 40 seats where the two political parties were at loggerheads with each other, the Shiv Sena has successfully managed to earn 31 out of them as far as trends are concerned while Shiv Sena (UBT) could only gain 9. This indicates that the people of Maharashtra have pulled their hands away from Uddhav Thackeray for his betrayal of Hindutva which his father Bal Thackeray held dear.
The election results demonstrate the BJP-led NDA’s ability to unite diverse social groups under its banner. Slogans like ‘Batenge toh katenge’, and ‘Ek hai toh safe hai’ have made their mark in the election discourse. In Maratha-dominated constituencies, the NDA secured a commanding lead with 68 seats compared to the MVA’s 18 which diminishes the predictions of Mahatha reservation outrage playing a big role. Similarly, among OBC-dominated seats, the NDA outpaced the opposition, winning 61 seats to the MVA’s 25. The NDA also showed strong performance in Dalit-dominated areas winning 19 seats as compared to 10 of MVA. In farmers as well in women-dominated constituencies, the Mahayuti has dominated the results.
The election results of Maharashtra can be seen as a rejection of caste-based politics the INDI Alliance caters to. Cased census has been turned down by the people of Maharashtra and more inclusive politics is what the people are looking for.